Physical and virtual phone mobility

Abstract

A physical and virtual phone mobility system enables application tasks and resources to be shared between a mobile device and a desktop device by hosting a virtual mobile device on the desktop device when the mobile device is determined to be within a predetermined proximity of the desktop device. The local resources available to the mobile device that are typically used to perform a given application task are compared with resources that are available to the desktop device. At least partial execution of the application may be transferred, along with some state information in some cases, from the mobile device to the desktop device based on the results of the comparison according to one or more transfer rules.

What is claimed: 
     
       1. A system for optimizing operations in a mobile device, the system comprising:
 one or more processors; and 
 one or more machine-readable memory devices, storing thereon a program of instructions for execution by the one or more processors, to thereby configure the system to
 determine whether a location of a physical mobile device is within a predetermined proximity of the system, 
 when the physical mobile device is determined to be present within the predetermined proximity to the system, provide one or more controls on a user interface of the physical mobile device or the system to a user to manually transfer at least partial operation of an application from the physical mobile device to the system, the one or more controls being responsive to one of gesture, voice, or input to the user interface supported on either the physical mobile device or the system, 
 
 expose the one or more controls to the user to express preferences for a transfer of operation of the application from the physical mobile device to the system, and 
 migrate one or more tasks associated with the application from the physical mobile device to the system. 
 
     
     
       2. The system of  claim 1 , in which the system is incorporated as a desktop device and further configured to emulate one or more characteristics of the physical mobile device and further to emulate one or more characteristics on a virtual mobile device on the system that are not supported on the physical mobile device. 
     
     
       3. The system of  claim 1 , in which the system is further configured to transfer one of device state or data from the mobile device to the system. 
     
     
       4. The system of  claim 2 , in which the application supports telephony and the emulated characteristics of the physical mobile device include telephony characteristics. 
     
     
       5. The system of  claim 1 , in which transfer rules govern the migration of the one or more task. 
     
     
       6. The system of  claim 5 , in which the transfer rules are instantiated on one of the system, the physical mobile device, or a remote server, and the system includes a network interface for communicating with the remote server. 
     
     
       7. The system of  claim 5 , in which the transfer rules account for quality of service or security of telephony connections available to either the system or the physical mobile device. 
     
     
       8. The system of  claim 5 , in which the transfer rules account for at least one of user preferences, a history of user behaviors, or capabilities of assessed resources. 
     
     
       9. The system of  claim 1 , further including configuring the system to store at least part of an assessment or configuring the system to access assessment information from a remote resource. 
     
     
       10. A method for sharing application tasks between mobile and desktop devices, the method comprising:
 determining whether a mobile device is present within a predetermined physical or logical proximity to a desktop device; 
 responsively to the determining, comparing resources available to the mobile device for performing a task associated with an application instantiated on the mobile device with corresponding resources available to the desktop device; 
 when the mobile device is determined to be present within the predetermined proximity to the desktop device, providing one or more controls on a user interface of the mobile device or the desktop device to a user to manually transfer at least partial operation of the application from the mobile device to the desktop device, the one or more controls being responsive to one of gesture, voice, or input to the user interface supported on either the mobile device or the desktop device; 
 exposing the one or more controls to the user to express preferences for a transfer of operation of the application from the mobile device to the desktop device; and 
 transferring at least partial operation of the application from the mobile device to the desktop device according to one or more transfer rules, the transferring being dynamically implemented to optimize resource utilization by the mobile device and the desktop device based on task type. 
 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 communicating, to the user of the mobile device, a notification of a pending transfer of the application operation from the mobile device to the desktop device; 
 receiving a user response to the notification; and 
 transferring at least partial operation of the application from the mobile device to the desktop device based on the user response. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 10 , in which the application instantiated on the mobile device supports telephony communication and the comparing includes comparing one or more of peripherals enabled for input of audio, peripherals enabled for output of audio, peripherals supporting a graphical user interface, peripherals supporting user input, peripherals supporting text-based input, quality of service (QoS) of an external telephony communication link, a security level of the external telephony link, or available bandwidth of the external telephony communication link. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 10 , in which the comparing includes comparing one or more of a speed of respective processors in the mobile device and the desktop device, available capacities of respective storage devices in the mobile device and the desktop device, or available capacity of respective power sources in the mobile device and the desktop device. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 10 , in which the transfer of at least partial operation of the application includes transferring one or more application tasks. 
     
     
       15. A mobile device, comprising:
 at least one processor; 
 at least one machine-readable memory device, storing thereon a program of instructions for execution by the at least one processor; and 
 at least one wireless communication modem, 
 wherein the program of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the mobile device to 
 detect a position of the mobile device within a predetermined proximity to a desktop device; 
 compare resources of the mobile device utilized to perform one or more tasks related to an application on the mobile device with corresponding resources of the desktop device; 
 when the mobile device is determined to be present within the predetermined proximity to the desktop device, providing one or more controls on a user interface of the mobile device to a user to manually transfer at least partial operation of the application from the mobile device to the desktop device, the one or more controls being responsive to one of gesture, voice, or input to the user interface supported on the mobile device;
 exposing the one or more controls to the user to express preferences for a transfer of operation of the application from the mobile device to the desktop device; and 
 transfer at least partial operation of the application from the mobile device to the desktop device in response to a resource comparison that indicates the desktop device has more advantageously-utilized resources than the mobile device for performing the one or more tasks related to the application. 
 
 
     
     
       16. The mobile device of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver, 
 wherein the program of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further causes the mobile device to
 use a position of the mobile device derived from the GNSS receiver to determine whether a position of the mobile device is within a predetermined proximity of the desktop device. 
 
 
     
     
       17. The mobile device of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 a short-range wireless communication system operative with the wireless communication modem, 
 wherein the program of instructions, when executed by the processor, further causes the mobile device to
 use the short-range wireless communication system to determine whether a position of the mobile device is within a predetermined proximity of the desktop device. 
 
 
     
     
       18. The mobile device of  claim 15 , wherein the program of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further causes the mobile device to
 track user behaviors with regard to utilization of the desktop device to operate a transferred application; and 
 use the tracked behaviors to automate the transfer of at least partial operation of the application when the mobile device is determined to be within the predetermined proximity to the desktop device.